Decorating A New House For The Holidays Part Three: A Kitchen Update

Do you remember last month when I mentioned that we'd be painting the kitchen and sun room before the holidays? We did it! Woo hoo! We finished painting just before Thanksgiving. So now, without further ado, here are the Before and Afters:

As you might recall, I referred to this house as the Heinz house because of the ketchup and mustard colors inside. Well, the Heinz house is no more! Ketchup was the first to go (dining room), and now we've said goodbye to mustard, too!

We chose Accessible Beige (Sherwin Williams) for the kitchen and sun room. We have used this color in the foyer, hallway, and lower half of the office/library. It does a good job of neutralizing the yellow tones in the honey oak wood throughout the house.

I like the way it gives a sense of continuity throughout the main level. Another reason I chose the color is because it ties together the colors of the glass mosaic tile back splash with the color of the counter tops.

I went on a scavenger hunt for all things red, and brought them into the kitchen with dish towels, ribbons, dishes and holiday decor. This pop of red goes so well with the new neutral backdrop.

This little Boyd's bear Santa looks cozy on the pew. I added another one of my sister Tina's gorgeous Amish quilts for another pop of red.

And of course, the coffee bar had to get festive, too. I pulled out the holiday mugs and flavored coffees!

It's been so nice to have a freshly painted kitchen for the holiday. We plan on painting the kitchen cabinets next year. I'm also hoping to add a dramatic light fixture for the sun room, and to rearrange the kitchen table and chairs in a different fashion.

I think what I really love about the new color is that it is a light and bright and airy color that doesn't scream "Ouch! My burning retinas!" the way the yellow once did. And the funniest part about the yellow was that the whole family found it to be bright and dark at the same time. Odd. Even the boys commented on it.

The morning after the kitchen was completed, Sam came down for breakfast and his first words were "Oh my gosh, the kitchen looks so much better."

High praise from the twelve year old!

Blessings, cafe friends!